Re:Germany extends lifetime of all 3 remaining nuclear plants
by calaphos on Tuesday October 18, 2022 @05:55AM
(#33244993)
Even if technically possible the economics of nuclear power plants don't favour only using them for peak loads. With gigantic initial captial investment and very low fuel costs (almost?) all nuclear power plants are used for base loads.
It's hard to find current numbers, but capital investment for combined cycle natural gas plants seems to be about a tenth of modern reactor projects in western countries.
Re:Germany extends lifetime of all 3 remaining nuclear plants
by hedora on Tuesday October 18, 2022 @10:32AM
(#33247788)
We have no real choice. Natural gas has to be phased out as soon as possible.
The plant designs I’m describing are new, but marching to commercialization. They are not in wide-scale production yet.
They are optimized for a world where solar and wind have taken over most of the production.
The reactor itself takes a long time to ramp up and down, but it heats a molten salt battery. The battery can burst-power the turbines at well-above the reactor output; they can be sized to handle peak demand + overnight loads.